Elbow Beach Surf Club’s debut is all sharp angles and attitude, shredding nerves and pushing bodies to the brink with a tough, experimental pop sensibility. The band employs a delightfully playful approach to sound throughout their EP. The jarring It’s Not Working, for example, conjures up such disparate artists as Mission of Burma, Camera Obscura and Robert Altman within a still dance-friendly framework. Yet another reason to like Burnt Oak Records, the best thing out of Guelph since John Kenneth Galbraith. (Karyn Bonham)
CD, Burnt Oak Records, www.burntoak.ca